Manoug Manougian (April 29, 1935 – May 7, 2024) was an Armenian scientist and academic who was considered to be the father of the Lebanese space program. Manougian was born on April 29, 1935, in Jerusalem. He died on March 27, 2024, in Tampa, Florida. He came to the United States in 1956. His parents are Nishan and Sirpouhi Manougian.

Background

Manougian grew up in

Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...

and was educated at St. George's School, Jerusalem. Manougian won a scholarship to the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

, and he graduated in 1960 with a major in math. Right away, Haigazian College in Beirut was glad to offer him a job teaching both math and physics. The college also made him the faculty advisor for the science club. Manougian met his wife in Armenia when he became her tutor. They eloped shortly after to the United States. While his wife attended school in Ohio, Manougian attended the University of Texas (see above). After graduating, they moved to Beirut. Manougian died on May 7, 2024, at the age of 89.

Career

Manougian married in 1960 and went to Lebanon to become a teacher at Haigazian College.

Lebanese space program

Manougian founded the Haigazian College Rocket Society in November 1960. With a very limited budget, the society launched a series of rockets to increasing altitudes. It received funding from the Lebanese government and became the Lebanese Rocket Society. He and his students finally launched a suborbital rocket in 1963. The Cedar IV rocket, launched on Lebanese independence day, 21 November 1963 from

Dbayeh Dbayeh () is a city in Lebanon located on the Mediterranean Sea in the Matn District, Mount Lebanon, between Beirut and Jounieh. The majority of the population is Christian(Maronites, and Orthodox), apart from some people from the gulf who lived ...

north of Beirut, reached and was featured on Lebanese stamps.

Teaching

Manougian returned to the United States in 1966. Manougian completed a master's degree and doctorate at the University of Texas and continued his academic career in the Department of Mathematics at the

University of South Florida The University of South Florida (USF) is a Public university, public research university with its main campus located in Tampa, Florida, Tampa, Florida, United States, and other campuses in St. Petersburg, Florida, St. Petersburg and Sarasota, ...

. He was an adviser for the University's Society of Aeronautics and Rocketry which is currently trying to launch to rocket above the

kármán line The Kármán line (or von Kármán line ) is a conventional definition of the Outer space#Boundary, edge of space; it is widely but not universally accepted. The international record-keeping body Fédération Aéronautique Internationale, FAI ( ...

Views and politics

As a member of the Armenian diaspora, he has been known to write editorials advocating awareness about the

Armenian genocide The Armenian genocide was the systematic destruction of the Armenians, Armenian people and identity in the Ottoman Empire during World War I. Spearheaded by the ruling Committee of Union and Progress (CUP), it was implemented primarily t ...

. He is also a co-author and associate producer of a 4-hour documentary called ''The Genocide Factor: The Human Tragedy'', that aired on PBS. In addition, he vehemently believes that rocketry and science should be pursued for solely peaceful means. Consequentially, he turned down multiple lucrative offers during his time in the Lebanese Rocket Society rather than let his work be used for military purposes.

References

External links

The Lebanese Rocket Society
''The Daily Telegraph'', October 9, 2013
It is rocket science: USF students build and launch 'em
''The Tampa Tribune'', December 21, 2013 {{DEFAULTSORT:Manougian, Manoug 1936 births 2024 deaths Lebanese scientists People from Jericho Governorate University of Texas at Austin alumni Academic staff of Haigazian University Rocket scientists American people of Armenian descent Lebanese people of Armenian descent Palestinian people of Armenian descent St. George's School, Jerusalem alumni